Humanity
by Psygirl
Summary: Most think that all X7's are emotionless robots who only follow orders. Well this is the story of specialops X7 Unit 3.
1. Chapter 1

Humanity

Rating: R

Warning: language, rape, torture, slight nudity  
Summary: Most think that all X7's are emotionless robots who only follow orders. Well this is the story of special-ops Unit 3.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel. If I did, season 2 would not have happened. Though I do own all the characters except X7-972(Geminiasp/Chrissy-chan owns her) and X7-197(Nikki owns him) .

A/N/.../ telepathically  
"..." talking outloud  
'...' thinking  
---- scene change

A/N 2: I just copied from the other board.

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"X7-225 spar with X7-892!" A TAC leader yelled. Two X7's stepped into the ring, surrounded by twelve other younger children, and got into their fighting stances. Both were wearing gray hospital gowns with identical shorts underneath.

225, the girl, had her light brown hair in a buzz cut, which made her dark green eyes stand out dramatically. 892, the boy, had medium-colored brown hair also in a buzz-cut, and black eyes, and was taller than the girl. Both were high ranking officers of their unit, despite their young age of 11 years. 225 let out a small upturn of her lips to assure 892 that she would have no holding back from the latter.

"Begin!" The TAC called from the sidelines as the girl charged forward to punch the boy who blocked and used her momentum to flip 225 over. She rolled to her feet and grabbed 892's foot and kicked him in the leg, knocking him down. He swept her and got up to put a foot on her chest, to signal his victory; however that wasn't to be. The girl grabbed his foot as he was about to bring it down and pushed it off, putting 892 off balance before, flipping to her feet. 225 then delivered a roundhouse kick to his head that a blackbelt envy, before pinning the boy down.

"Winner, 225. Line up, head to showers and then proceed to the perimeter for guard watch with unit 2," instructed the TAC leader, as the group saluted and shouted at the same time,

"Yes, sir!"  
------------------------------------  
"892, you weren't to go easy on me!" scowled 225, as she crossed her arms standing in front of the boy.

"Well until your shoulder heals, you're going to take it easy. Got it soldier?" He said annoyed, turning on the shower faucet. She'd been complaining about it since the day after she dislocated it on a spy mission.

"Hey, that's not fair!" 225 glared at him as she got under the shower next to him, "why do you always pull rank on me?"

"Because talking to you is like trying to teach a cat geometry. Now come on, we have to change and get the others outside," 892 toweled off and looked pointedly at the other soldiers who were talking, or in 972 and 964's case splashing each other.

"Soldiers, fall in!" Called out 225. All lined up and stood at attention, " Get dressed and meet 892 and I outside the room in 3. Hop to it already!"

"Yes ma'am!" all the voiced called before marching into the locker room. 892 and 225 however, usually brought their clothes with them and dressed, silently.

"Hey. Don't be mad, 225. I...just worry," explained 892.

"We weren't programmed to be worried," she responded coldly. He sighed. and left to wait in the hallway for his unit.  
----------------------  
They hated guard duty. Most of all they hated guard duty with unit 2. Unit 1 was tolerable, but unit 2 was the worst.  
Unit 2 was a group consisted totally of X7 twins. It was annoying enough that they usually kept their sonar on high (which hurt Unit 3's ears) even when there was no danger; but the fact that they all looked like their CO, 892, was just creepy.

892 was considered a defect if you will, by the doctors of Manticore. He was born with emotions like an X5, and was immune to most of the psychological drugs that was administered to him to make him like all the other X7 twins.  
Hence the director of the X7 series decided to put him in a different class of his own, and decided to put any other "strong-minded X7's into that unit. 892 was the Commanding Officer (CO).

892 commanded their unit to split up in twos and to stay in the bushes to hide in case of an enemy attack. 892 naturally paired with 225 and they walked along the tall grass, hidden in their camo clothing.

/So. You're not mad/ He asked telepathically ignoring the stares from various X-series as the two walked together with their M-16s in hand.

/No/ she answered/ annoyed, but not mad. Besides I have no choice. Either we get along or Renfro'll put us in psy-ops./

889 nodded. Everyone knew that if there were even a slight disagreement between COs and/or SIC, both were sent to psy-ops.

225 was Second In Command (SIC).

The two continued to walk in the high grass and occasionally checked on their unit members (and breaking up fights between them and unit 2 along the way) before both retired to the barracks.

"Lights Out! a guard yelled before turning out the lights, leaving all in darkness. Five minutes passed before there was a thud on the floor.

"972 go to bed," 892 groaned sleepily. The small dark-haired, blue eyed girl smirked and said,

"I'm not sleepy." The youngest unit member, ran across the room to her "big sister", 964, and asked to play.

The other girl, 964, got up and walked with her "baby sister." 964 was the tallest in the unit despite being the second youngest at age 9, being a few days older than 972. Her skin was dark from her African heritage, as were her hair (also in a buzz-cut but wavy) and black eyes.

"We're leaving for a while. See you," said 964 quickly, grabbing 972 and blurring out the door. 982 sat up quickly and growled. As he was about to go after them, 225 waved him off.

/They'll be fine. They snuck off before and returned without a scratch in an hour/ she claimed telepathically.

/What! And you never told me/ He exclaimed.

/Nope/ she giggled and said out loud, "go to bed 892. We have classes tomorrow. 964 and 972'll be back soon."

892 sighed and climbed into bed and drifted off almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

(To be continued)


	2. Chapter 2

Ch2   
---------------------------------------------------------------------------  
892 watched as 964 made shadow puppets during French class. They were the only two X7s in a class of mostly X8s, and 964 used this time to entertain some of the bored X8s in the room.

/Stop that 964/ the older boy yelled in her mind for about the 10th time that class.

/This is boring. Je parle beaucoup français déja. (I already speak alot of French)/ the tall dark-skinned girl replied.

Unfortunately for 892, she was right. Somehow, she'd been near fluent in the language from the time she could talk. No one knew how, but she was.

"X7-964, quel age as-tu? (how old are you?)" The teacher asked.

"J'ai neuf ans, madam (I am 9 years old, ma'am)," the X7 responded.

"Et combien soeur as-tu? (And how many sisters do you have?"

"Sept, madam (7 ma'am)."

"Bien (good). X8-303..."

--------------------------------  
Later that day, the special-ops X7 unit marched together to astronomy class. They were learning about the different signals that Manticore would send if compromised.

Unfortunately, X7-972 hadn't taken her Ritalin that day. Her defect was that she had ADHD, but was exceptionally well in most subject areas; especially HtH and E&E.

/225, I think that 972 is sick/ said a grey-eyed girl with black hair.

The grey-eyed girl was actually a modified X7 clone of X5-452; and the only way one could tell X7-452 and X7-453 apart was their eye color, and the fact the X7-453 had a very shy aura.

/Why/ Asked 225 as she shifted she green eyes to where 972 sat at. The younger girl was shifting in her seat and her eyes darted around as her random thoughts bounced around to the other soldiers.

"Hey a UFO," 972's counterpart X7-964 exclaimed. 225 groaned mentally feeling a headache coming on as 972 jumped on the table claiming,

"That's the one that abducted me!" There was a long silence before some of the other soldiers snickered, and 892 muttered,

"Baby sisters," before a glare from Renfro, who had walked in when 972 jumped on the table, shut everyone up.

Except 972.

"Eh... Hello ma'am," she said nervously.

/We're all gonna die/ thought 225 slamming her head on the table.

/No we're not/ assured 892.

/Yes we are./

/We'll be fine./

/The nomalies are going to eat us./

/No they won't./

"X7-972," growled Renfro, making the X7s quake with fear,  
"I hope that you had just had a mental glitch by disrupting the class. If I catch even a word that this has happened again, I'll make sure that you wish for psy-ops. Is that clear, 972?"

"Crystal, ma'am!" Shouted the youngest unit member.

"Now sit down and keep quiet, or else," Renfro prompty turned heel and left after 972 sat down in her seat.

-------------------------------------  
X7 Unit 3 marched to the mess hall at 8:00 pm for dinner. They had 10, one hour classes all day, and truth be told; they preferred field training. The unit went to the lunch line to pick up their meals which consisted of a grey slop-like product  
(which was supposed to contain all the vitamins they needed in a day) with steamed carrot.

They sat down at the table and ate their meals in silence.

/Anyone, want my carrots/ asked 964.

/I'll take them/ said X7-453.

/964, eat your carrots/ demanded 892.

/But-/

/EAT YOUR DAMMED CARROTS/ yelled the CO telepathically.

/Yes, sir/ whimpered the second youngest.

Usually 225 would scold 892 for yelling at the younger X7s and even some of the X8s, but she hadn't noticed as she looked up at two X5s that were staring at her. One of them had short sandy blonde hair and deep blue eyes; he was well-defined, but not bulky and was quite tall, about 6'2. The other, who was shorter (about 5'9), had short brown hair and dark green eyes. He was more muscular than his counter-part, and had hard features; where as his blonde friend had soft boyish features. They both smiled at her in a semi-sadistic  
way, making the young SIC shudder and look away.

-------------------------------------  
Two hours later, the X7 special-ops unit were laying on their cots, in the barracks. X7-225 sat up and looked around. Seeing that everyone was asleep (or appeared to be anyway), she snuck out of her bed and out the door.

Keeping to the shadows, the SIC crept to the gym to think and work out her energy, since she couldn't sleep. The day had been hectic considering the small brush with Renfro, and the X5s that made her get a very bad feeling. She stepped to the mat and began to practice her katas and punches. She'd been practicing for to hours before a hand twisted her around. 225's fist flew out to punch the would-be attacker and was caught by 892.

/What are you doing here/ She asked, eyes wide.

/What are YOU doing here? It's 00:15, you should be in bed./

/I couldn't sleep. I think I'll head back though... 892 would you let go of my hand/

/Oh/ he immediately let go/sorry./

/That's ok. I have to go to the bathroom, but I'll come straight back ok./

/I'll be at the barracks waiting then/ 892 then jogged off to the hallway exit, while 225 went to the gym bathroom.  
-------------------------------------------  
225 had never been afraid to walk the hallways at night, no matter the nomalies that 'haunted' the halls at night, but that night she was terrified.

She kept to the light, a habit which all the soldiers had been taught not to do, but the X7 did this to be in the cameras' view; in case she was attacked. The SIC felt unease at the emptiness of the usually busy hallways, and resisted the urge to just run to the barracks.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her and dragged her into the shadows. Panic rush in and she hit at the hand that dragged her as she was pushed into an empty room. Her night vision activated and she saw that it was the blonde-haired X5 she'd seen at the mess hall that had dragged her into the room.

The X5 circled her, looking her over while smirking. He circled his arms around her and whispered in a light voice,

"X7-225 huh? You must be the Second In Command of unit 3 yes?"

"Yes sir," answered the X7. He came in front of her and kneeled to her level and began to play with the neckline of her gown.

"How old are you, little one?"

"Eleven, sir"

He then smirked and seized her collar before forcing his lips on hers, hard. He grabbed her shoulders and held her close as he forced his fingers on the back of her neck, on her vertebrae, warning her. She unwillingly responded back to the kiss, knowing that he would snap her neck if she didn't.

Finally breaking the harsh, bruising kiss, he pushed her towards the door making her fall and almost hit her head .

"Go back to your barracks X7," the X5 commanded harshly.

X7-225 shakily stood up, and without responding, ran out the door, slamming it behind her. From inside the room, the X5 licked his lips, still tasting the X7 on them, and smirked hauntingly.  
-------------------------------------  
TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Ch3  
------------------------------  
225 stood at attention the next morning as the TAC leaders did inspection. She had to resist the urge to massage the painful bruise that she knew was on the back of her neck, from the X5 that grabbed her.

"X7-410, why didn't you fold this correctly!" One of the leaders yelled, making 225 jump. She glanced to see the TAC screaming at the shaking boy.

"Do you think this is a joke? Look at that corner; it's as wrinkled as my grandma! What were you thinking soldier?"

"I wasn't ma'am!" Shouted the young boy, his brown eyes quaking with fear

"Well then soldier, I'll teach you to think!" She screamed at the boy, grabbing him and throwing him on the bed, making him hit his head on the bed post. The TAC took off her belt and preceded to beat the whimpering boy until blood covered the bed.

"Clean that up. Then I want you all to head to guard duty in 10," she growled putting her belt back on.

"Yes ma'am!" All (minus the blooded boy) shouted as she left and slammed the door behind her. As soon as her foot step were around the corner, the unit rushed to the fallen soldier.

/410 are you ok/

/She just had a bad day./

/Peterson only comes here twice a month anyway, so don't worry./

410 tried to sit up but fell back down.

"My head hurts," he murmured before passing out.

'Damn it,' 892 thought, 964 get 410 off the bed; 453 and 600 find and change those sheets; 225 and I will get some medical supplies so 964 can fix 410's wounds. Everyone else, go to guard duty as ordered...If X7-200 has a problem with that; tell him that he can answer to me.

Yes, sir! The X7s answered, except 972.

But I want to help too, she pouted. 892 sighed and put a hand on the youngest head,

You will be by doing what you're told. I'll give you a candy after dinner if you're good.

Yea! Candy! She sprinted out with the others as they left to do their various tasks.

Let's head out 225, 892 told his SIC.

-----------------------------------------------

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

Ch4  
----------------------------------  
"Well, well look at the freaks," Snickered an X5 as four of the transgenics cornered X7s 892 and 225.

"I'd say we caught ourselves some fresh meat, eh 349?" Commented a burly X5 that 225 recognized a one of the X5 that had creeped her out.

"You know it 743," 349 replied back licking his lips at 225. X7-225 held in a gasp as she recognized that 349 was the X5 the grabbed her! She shuddered and he laughed,

"Awww. Is the widdle X7 afwaid of the big, bad X5s? Well men, what do you say we give these freaks something to-"

"Is there a problem _boys_?" Asked a voice behind them.

All the transgenics looked to see an Asian woman with black hair and deadly brown eyes glaring at the group. They all stood at attention,

"No, ma'am!" They coursed.

"Good. Now since I'm guessing that those X7's were headed towards my office, I'll be seeing those two; you four on the other hand," She glared deeper and pointed at the X5's, "better be out of my sight, now!"

"Yes ma'am!" The X5's took off but not before X5-349 murmured to X7-225, "I'll deal with you later."

She mentally gulped and remained at attention as the Asian woman walked over to her and 892.

"That was a close one," she said with a smile rubbing the X7's heads," I'm Dr. Sakura Haruno; and you are?"

"X7-892, ma'am!"

"X7-225, ma'am!"

Sakura smile drooped a little as if sad and she said,  
"Nice to meet you both personally. Is there anything you needed?"

225 and 892 looked at each other cautiously, unsure of what to make of this woman. They'd never been treated so nicely by anyone that wasn't of their unit before.

/What if it's a trap? What if Peterson's watching?" X7-225 asked.

/We have to risk it. The longer we wait, the longer there is a change that 410's injury can get worse/ replied 892.

"We need a medic pack ma'am," said 892.

"Why is that? Is a soldier incapacitated?" Sakura asked sounding...worried?

"Yes ma'am."

"Wait here for a second," the doctor ran into a door and returned a few seconds later with a first aid kit, "show me where he is."  
---------------------------------  
"There all done," said the strange doctor as she stitched up young X7-410's head, Sakura picked the boy up and asked,

"Can someone get the door? I can't get it if I'm carrying 410."

X7-964 opened the door while the others busied themselves re-making the injured boy's bed.

"Thank you," mouthed 964.

"Right pocket. Share," mouthed the doctor back as she 'didn't notice' the X7 picking her pocket. When the girl closed the door she put a piece of shiny paper on each of the X7's beds.

600 looked at the paper and his blue eyes widened,

"964 where did you get this?" He asked opening the candy.  
'Mmm, orange,' he thought.

"It...was a gift," she responded mentally counting down the seconds until 892 yelled at her.

'Three...two...one.'

/You STOLE it! She just helped us out/

/She LET me have the candy. Dr. Haruno wouldn't let me pick her pockets if she didn't let me, you know/ the young X7 explained. 892 sighed and shook his head,

"You are hopeless."

"Hey, I resent that!"  
-------------------------------  
/What took you so long/ Sulked X7-200, the CO of Unit 2.

/None of your business, soldier. Continue on what you was doing/ snapped 892.

/You can't tell me what to do/ 200 went to attack 892.

Bad move.

892 ducked under the other X7's fist and used his momentum to flip him head over heels on his bottom. The special ops twisted the other X7's arm making him cry out.

/Look, I may be younger than you, but I DO outrank you. You may want to remember that 200/ 892 said softly.

/Yes sir/ 200 whimpered and 892 let go.

"What the hells going on out here?" A voice growled, and all the X7's stood at attention. A tall man with brown hair and a camo jacket stepped out of the bushes.

"I won't take any passin' of licks in my trainin' yard if y'all ain't scheuled fer sparrin'. X7s 200 and 892, head to solitary. You'll have about 10 hours to blow off yer steam; NOW GIT!" Yelled the TAC.

While the X7s listened, no one understood the man's dialect. In fact the only thing they could get from the dialogue were the words; yard, X7s 200 and 892, and 10 hours. So that being translated, said X7s responded with a "Yes sir", a salute, and gave temporary command to their SICs and TICs before heading to solitary.

/This is all your fault 892./

/Shut it, 200./  
-----------------------------------------  
TBC

(A/N: You can take the soldier out of the kid but you can't take the kid out of the soldier  lol)


	5. Chapter 5

Ch. 5  
-----------------------------------------------  
After the small scuffle that had occurred in the training yard, the TAC leader that had forced 892 and 200 to solitary made both units do 20 laps around the complex. After hearing this X7-964 paled slightly and most of the unit 3 member were worried since they had to do the tank after that and 964 had the worst lung capacity in the series.

"Well what're you pissers waitin' for? Git them laps done!" Yelled the TAC.

All the X7s took off at a run; not blurring so they didn't get tired. It had started to drizzle a bit, making the air cooler but as soon as it started to rain, it was difficult to move in the muddied dirt.

Around the 18th lap, X7-964 stopped for a bit in an attempt to catch her breath. She was wheezing and coughing while clutching her chest and 972 stopped also to help.

/Just more two laps, sis. Two laps and I'll tell 225 that you got hurt and you can go to the infirmary/ she told the older X7.

/Ok. I have to stock-/ 964 coughed violently as the TAC leader walked over and pushed the older girl to the ground.

"Did I tell you to stop soldiers?" He asked. Neko quickly got up and stood at attention as best she could.

"No, sir," she answered hoarsely.

"What was that?"

"No, you didn't tell 972 or I to stop running, sir!" she yelled and had to struggle to hold back a cough.

"Five more laps for units 3!"

"Yes, sir" she and 972 saluted and ran off.  
----------------------------------------  
Only when unit 3 had made it to the relative safety of the locker rooms that were next to the tank did 964 finally collapse a coughing fit. For a full minute the others watched as 453 sat her up and patted her back.

/I'm okay/ said the TIC/ I've had worse./

/Are you sure/ asked 600/ you're looking worse./

Sure enough, 964 was pale, shaking, and sweating slightly. Needless to say that out of all of them 972 was the most worried.

/I can cover for you 964/ she said hugging her/I get in trouble on a daily basis anyway./ 964 shook her head and slowly got up. 225 sighed and hoped to any deity that was listening that the second youngest would be okay.

------------------------------  
"Everyone dive in and set positions!" Yelled Trainer Peterson.

"Yes, ma'am!" the special-ops yelled before diving into the tank filled water and fastening the chain for their ankles. The timer was set for 6 minutes and they all sat at the bottom of the pool.

3 minutes. 225 sent a look towards 964 and the younger gave her a thumbs-up. If they hadn't been under water, she would have given a sigh of relief. Maybe things would be okay after all.

25 seconds. A slight wave in the water made all the X7s look toward 964. Though they couldn't hear, they knew that she was gagging.

'No, no, no, no, no,' 225 thought frantically. She looked at the timer, 15 seconds.

/Come on 964, just a little longer/ 600 told the girl frantically.

5 seconds.

/Can't.../

2 seconds.

/Going to die.../

SNAP!

As if a miracle had happened, the chains snapped loose letting the X7s swim to the surface. A Spanish looking X7 grabbed 964 and dragged her shaking, coughing body to the edge of the pool.

"That was a decent performance by everyone," Said Trainer Peterson after everyone had gotten out and stood at attention next to the tank," But you X7-964; are you just _that_ weak that you needed X7-197 to carry you? Pathetic! First in the training grounds, now in the tank! Who's cock did _you_ suck to become third in command? I'd seen baby X8's do better that you, 964! Why I should-"

The woman's tirade was cut short by 964 spitting out blood and collapsing in a shaking, coughing heap in the ground.

"964!" Gasped 972 as she ran to help her sister sit up, ignoring the command to stay in line, before she choked on her own blood. 453 also ran over and felt 964's forehead as the TIC looked even paler than before; she gasped and told the TAC that she needed a medic fast.

"I make the decisions around here and I said to GET BACK IN LINE!" she screamed at the X7s and pulling out her gun, pointing it at the group.

X7-600 reacted while the others stood in fear. The blonde boy jumped the woman and struggled to get the gun out of her hands so the others could get away. 972 and 453 picked 964 up and was about to carry her out when Peterson pushed 600 into the three, and pointed a .45 at the four X7s.

"Go to hell, you freaks," she said as she was about to pull the trigger. 600 quickly raised the gun he had stolen out of her pocket and fired a shot point blank in between her eyes.

/You guys better go, 964's getting worse/ he told them as the aforementioned X7's seemingly internal bleeding got worse.

Just at that moment, guards rushed into the room and at seeing 600 with a gun, and Trainer Peterson's dead body, promptly shot 600 in the heart three times, killing him.

Dead silence occurred for 5 seconds before unit 3 began howling in mental pain of their brother. Most screamed, banged their heads on the wall, or fainted from the mental agony cause from the tearing of their mind, which felt similar to sparagmos.

The guards quickly tasered and handcuffed the soldiers and dragged/carried the wailing soldiers to the brig and to their fate.

- tearing of the flesh/ eating of the gods in Greek theatre.

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Ch 6

X7-892 had always considered himself a calm, patient person. In fact, he usually spent whatever time he had in solitary thinking, practicing katas, or well, sleeping. However that night he couldn't concentrate. The X7 had been pacing the perimeter of his cell for about three hours when he heard a familiar young voice yell,

"LET ME GO DAMMIT!"

The CO looked through the small window on the door to see the youngest member of his unit, X7-972 get literally thrown into a solitary cell.

"That little brat bit me," one of the three guards, that tossed the young girl into the cell, growled as he walked away. 892 waited a few minutes after their footsteps faded away before asking,

"X7-972 what did you do _this_ time?" He heard her jumping up to grab the bars in the window.

"I tried to help Ne- 964 because she got sick, but Trainer Peterson was about to shoot us, so 600 shot her, and then some guards came in and killed him, an-" 892 stopped her mid-rant.

"600 was killed!" He exclaimed almost falling back.

"Yeah," said 972 sadly, "then they took the others to reeducation and put me here. They'll probably come get you soon enough too." 'I hate this place,' the girl thought.

892 sighed and sat against the wall. First one of his soldiers gets injured, then he gets put into solitary, and now this!

"Okay well if we just stay quiet and submit then _maybe_ we won't be terminated. I hope," the CO murmured. Almost on que, the two transgenics heard footsteps coming down the hall. X7-892 stood at attention as his door slammed open and guards forcible dragged the boy down the hall and up the stairs to psy-ops.

The boy was forced to sit in the uncomfortable chair and was strapped down before the fateful red laser was burning in his eye.

_**TRAITOR**_

Pictures of X7-600 flashed in his head.

_**SNAKE**_

A picture of X7-600 sparring against a soldier

_**RAT**_

A picture of X7-600's barcode

_**MURDERER**_

Pictures of X7-600 holding various firearms

_**DUTY**_

The Manticore symbol

_**MISSION**_

Manticore

_**UNIT**_

Pictures of his unit standing at attention, training.

_**LOYALTY**_

Manticore

_**MANTICORE**_

The images flashed through X7-892's head over and over and he felt pain all over, before finally: darkness.

A slideshow image of a blonde boy with dark blue eyes staring blankly appeared on the wall in a classroom full of children.

"TRAITOR!" The children yelled glaring at the picture.

The projector clicked and showed a picture of the same boy holding a gun.

"MURDERER!"

The picture then changed to show a woman (obviously dead) with a bullet hole in her head.

"MARTYR!"

Renfro stood and watched as the child-soldiers spew propaganda from behind a two-way window. She smiled at the fact that they were so easily conditioned; to her it was funny that in the end even the most independent of soldiers were so…mindless.

It was well past midnight when bare feet hit the floor; dark eyes glanced around to make sure the others were asleep. The figure snuck to the window and with a final glance, pulled a bar from a barred window at the other end of the barrack, before pulling the pane open and dropping three stories to the ground.

The person looked around while crouched and checked for guards and other soldiers lurking the Manticore grounds. Seeing none the figure sprinted to the forested area and ran quickly, ducking branches and jumping over logs that was in the way. The shadow slowed to a walk as she came to a moonlit patch of land, the light illuminating a headstone that had one single designation:

X7-600

The figure crouched on the ground next to the recently dug grave and ran small, dark fingers over the ingravement.

"I'm sorry," the person- girl whispered. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough, and that I'm not a good soldier. In fact, I don't even deserve to be TIC. I failed you, all of you; and for that, I'm sorry."

The girl, X7-964, took out a piece of sharp, gleaming metal and had put it to her wrist, before she saw her sister's face in her head, and heard her say, "Neko-nee- chan". Neko shook he head and then put the metal to the tombstone and began to chip away at the stone with a rock.

As the sun began to peak its way to the horizon, the figure began to walk towards the barracks with a determined look on her face.

'I will become a strong good soldier. And I will, one day, lead my family to escape this hell called Manticore; even if it costs me my life."

Later when the sun hit the tombstone, a soldier read:

X7-600

A Friend.

A Brother.

And the best damn soldier that ever lived.

TBC


End file.
